Khan, Uddin and Ahmed were jailed on Monday for 19-and-a-half years, with the other three jailed for 18 years and nine months.

They will be eligible for release after two-thirds of their sentences but could be recalled to prison in the five years following the end of their full term.

Judge Nicholas Hilliard said the men had been influenced by what he described as a "tide of apparently freely available extremist material".

"You intended to engage in a violent confrontation with those attending the EDL rally and use the weapons and the IED to cause serious injuries, and you anticipated that some victims may have died," he said.

EDL supporters, police and passers-by could have been caught up in the bloodshed, the court heard.

The judge also said that if the attack had succeeded, it could have sparked "a spiral of tit-for-tat violence".

During the proceedings at the Old Bailey in London, England's central criminal court, EDL activists have demonstrated outside.

EDL leader Tommy Robinson and his deputy were in the public gallery for the sentencing and called out "God save the Queen" as the hearing ended.